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Higher education

Talk to other parents whose children are preparing for university on our Higher Education forum.

Original poster

DD wants a RG Uni that does F2F teaching - which will?

298 replies

mugglewump · 11/08/2021 17:46

My DD is in the process of choosing which universities to apply for and wants Russell Group. After hearing Manchester say that blended learning will continue indefinitely, she has decided that F2F learning is (unsurprisingly) important to her. She is interested in Leeds, Sheffield, Newcastle, Nottingham, Bristol, Kings, Cardiff and Southampton and would like to know which of these have declared an intention to return to face to face learning for 2022. If you have a DD or DS at any of these and know the uni's intention in terms of course delivery, can you share it please? She wants to study geography. TIA.

OP posts:
mimbleandlittlemy · 11/08/2021 17:57

DS starting at Birmingham in a few weeks time and he has been told that on his course it will be F2F unless government guidelines change. They expect all undergrads to be fully vaccinated before start of term. I know it's not on her list but it's a very good uni.

Original poster
mugglewump · 11/08/2021 19:07

mimbleandlittlemy, my niece is at Birmingham and loves it so we will probably visit and take a look. Thank you for the info.

OP posts:
SnowWouldHelp · 11/08/2021 19:20

Many are probably saying blended because they can't be 100% sure and don't want to get sued. For instance, if a large proportion of students on a module are pinged or have covid teaching might have to go online to be fair to them. If the government changes social distancing, then unis have reduced capacity and a percentage of teaching will have to go online etc.

YumBroadBeans · 12/08/2021 07:45

My daughters RG Uni promised blended learning last year - until events of the autumn term took over. Her f2f element ended up being a few weekly sessions in the first month of the first semester, nothing at all after that.
They're saying "blended learning" for September but after what I saw last year, I reserve judgement about how this might work. Seems crazy when they SU looks to be fully open with club nights etc.

Siepie · 12/08/2021 07:49

Most unis will have a page on their website about the upcoming year.

For example Leeds are saying seminars in person but lectures online coronavirus.leeds.ac.uk/student-advice/arrangements-for-2021-22/

Sheffield are saying face-to-face "enhanced" by technology
www.sheffield.ac.uk/coronavirus/prospective-students

If you search the uni name and "covid" you can probably find answers for the rest of your list. They're all being vague at the minute as nobody really knows what the guidelines will be by the end of September 2021, let alone September 2022.

MyriadeOfThings · 12/08/2021 07:54

But at the same time, some Unis have actually said that they want to keep some of the teaching online ‘because actually it worked really well’ - read it was good on a teachers pov.

There is a question there as whether some teaching will be online forever. I know some Unis have been clear (internally) that this will be the case. They won’t advertise it though.

TheCountessofFitzdotterel · 12/08/2021 07:57

York though it’s not on your list.

wooliewoo · 12/08/2021 10:01

Have a relative at Sheffield (1st yr) who had no f2f at all last yr.

If this is really important to your DDs decision making she'd be best to email the depts directly and try and pin them down to exactly what the plan is. Beware of being told "blended learning" though, it's not the 50/50 you might think.
Our experience of that (not a Uni on your list) in 1st semester last yr was once a fortnight f2f and rest online

Peaseblossum22 · 12/08/2021 12:04

Also be aware that f2f does not necessarily mean physically . Some universities are classifying Zoom tutorials and seminars as F2F

TheCountessofFitzdotterel · 12/08/2021 12:12

@Peaseblossum22

Also be aware that f2f does not necessarily mean physically . Some universities are classifying Zoom tutorials and seminars as F2F
I rolled my eyes so hard at that. Shockingly misleading of them.

Btw can I just stick up for academics and say that the ones I know don’t think online learning is fine. In the cases I know it’s being imposed top down, in part because SOME students say they prefer it, often because of overseas students whose fee income the university wants but who don’t feel safe coming back to the UK with its high covid numbers.

I hope students like op’s dd making it quite clear what type of learning they prefer will have some impact on management and they will get the message that real life interaction is key to what people go to university for.

Zippy1510 · 15/08/2021 14:34

Sheffield are going fully face to face.

NoNotHimTheOtherOne · 15/08/2021 16:19

Btw can I just stick up for academics and say that the ones I know don’t think online learning is fine.

I think online lectures are fine, so far as any kind of lectures are fine. Nobody learns very much by attending lectures, although they do enjoy being with their friends for teaching sessions: they always need to go back over stuff from lectures later. This is easier with recordings of lectures that were actually designed to be recorded, rather than in-person lectures where the lecturer is talking to people in the room and wandering away from the microphone.

I know when we first started using lecture capture I had a real problem remembering to use the mouse pointer to point at things on the screen (Ctrl-clicking the mouse button puts a pointer on the PowerPoint screen) so that it would be visible on the recording, rather than using a laser pointer. I do always use a lapel microphone when I can, but other people walk off with them or leave them switched on so the batteries run out. If I'm recording a lecture at home I can pause while I fix technical problems.

Newgirls · 15/08/2021 16:42

The problem is it will vary even within unis depending on dept staff and spaces available. It’s very hard to advise sadly.

Badbadbunny · 15/08/2021 17:12

@Siepie

Most unis will have a page on their website about the upcoming year.

For example Leeds are saying seminars in person but lectures online coronavirus.leeds.ac.uk/student-advice/arrangements-for-2021-22/

Sheffield are saying face-to-face "enhanced" by technology
www.sheffield.ac.uk/coronavirus/prospective-students

If you search the uni name and "covid" you can probably find answers for the rest of your list. They're all being vague at the minute as nobody really knows what the guidelines will be by the end of September 2021, let alone September 2022.

Unfortunately, after last Autumn, few people will believe what is written on Uni websites. Some were still saying "blended learning" as late as end of August, several weeks after they instructed their staff not to return to campus for the whole year, so they were basically lying as blended learning is impossible without staff on campus.
Badbadbunny · 15/08/2021 17:14

@Peaseblossum22

Also be aware that f2f does not necessarily mean physically . Some universities are classifying Zoom tutorials and seminars as F2F
The same way some classified broadcasting last year's lecture as "live" simply by having the lecturer make a "live" introduction for a few minutes and then playing the recording!
TheCountessofFitzdotterel · 15/08/2021 23:07

‘I think online lectures are fine, so far as any kind of lectures are fine. Nobody learns very much by attending lectures‘

I couldn’t disagree more with this. Perhaps it depends on the subject.

Newgirls · 16/08/2021 09:23

I still can’t quite understand why lectures won’t be happening face to face when nightclubs are open. Perhaps they will return in spring?

Notanotherusernamenow · 16/08/2021 09:27

I know KCL is largely online this year

Some of the lower RG unis will likely offer more as less competitive - eg Southampton?

Notanotherusernamenow · 16/08/2021 09:31

@Newgirls it’s often a space issue. If social distancing is required, suddenly a 200-person lecture requires a 400-hundred seater. Plus students don’t want to come. I offered in-person lecturing to a cohort in autumn last year when it was still allowed and one student turned up. Everyone else was online. It was impossible to teach effectively and the solo student was miserable as he hadn’t done the reading and wasn’t well prepared - but couldn’t hide from me…

Newgirls · 16/08/2021 09:33

But social distancing has gone? Hence night clubs opening.

Newgirls · 16/08/2021 09:34

And surely this year is not comparable to last year?

wooliewoo · 16/08/2021 10:04

Absolutely cannot compare last autumn with this autumn!
Autumn 2020 we were heading into a 2nd wave, told it was unsafe to meet anyone indoors who wasn't in our household, all the self-isolation and contact tracing, no-one was vaccinated. No wonder students didn't want to attend in person.

It's also unreasonable to use the surveys done with students last March ( during lockdown) to canvass their opinions on what they wished to happen this academic year.

The country has moved on a huge way since then.

ClaraThree · 16/08/2021 15:45

If students are doing science degrees , I hope they get face to face practical lab time?
Did this happen at all last year ?

Etulosba · 16/08/2021 15:50

Did this happen at all last year ?

I suppose it depends on which institution you are referring to. At mine, yes. In both the first and third term.

Newgirls · 16/08/2021 16:38

My dd has started to hear from tutors. Some are doing face to face and others not. They seem to be making their own personal decisions one based on fact he hasn’t moved back to the uni town…

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